Sacha Vant' Pad Bosch takes Round 1 of the IAME Euro Series as Fusion score podiums in Mini, Junior and Senior at Mariembourg, Belgium.
After a week of testing, the Fusion Mini drivers showed their pace come race day, with Ben Smith coming of age taking all 3 of his heat victories in commanding style.
In the Pre Final it was Sacha who ended up the lead Fusion driver home in P2 with Ben P3 and Roman Kamyab P5. A great drive from near the back of the grid saw Jenson Graham net P6.
The Final saw a breakaway pack of Sacha, Roman and Tiziano Kuzhnini (Spirit Karting) as Ben just lost touch in the early laps in P4. Heat winner Zac Drummond and Max Cuthbert all ran in the top 7 in the early stages. As the tension mounted going on to the final lap, Sacha held on to take a popular win with Roman snatching second from Kuzhnini, only to lose the place on the final corner to end up securing a double podium for the team, with Ben just off the final steps in 4th and Zac ending P7.
In Juniors, Fionn McLaughlin, Leo Robinson, Kanato Le and Vinnie Phillips all had spells at the front during the heats and Pre Final.
In the Main Final in was Fionn who led the team charge, storming through to finish P2, a fantastic result for the new Synergy Rebel chassis. Leo had run as high as 2nd but ultimately had to settle for P5 which was still a commendable effort. Vinnie came home P9 with Kanato a disappointed P13 having shown good pace in the heats.
With 4 Senior drivers out; Oliver Greenall, Mathilda Olsson, Maximus Mayer and Lewis Mackie, the team showed well in the ultra competitive class with just under 90 drivers on the entry. Lewis had some bad luck in his heats but showed great pace, coming through to P2 in the Repercharge before crashes set him back in the Finals.
Max suffered and engine seize in his final heat, putting him in the Repercharge which he won with ease before storming through to P12 in the main final with a great drive. Mathilda, in her first race with the team showed superb pace in practice, netting 3rd fastest time in group in TQ but set up issues hampered her progress in the heats and despite a strong come back in the Pre Final, she was involved in a first lap incident in the main Final.
Ollie had shown excellent speed in the practice, with P2 in group in TQ. He had mixed fortunes in the heats and ended P10 in the Pre Final.
In the Main Final he was on fire, his Synergy Rebel chassis performing superbly as he stormed through to an eventual P3 and podium on his Senior debut, as the youngest driver on the grid.
All in all with 4 podiums in the 3 classes it was a successful trip to Belgium, next stop for the Euro Series will be Zuera, Spain for Round 2.
Photos by FotoCar13